Take Me To The Cloud: Oracle To Buy Taleo

Oracle plans to acquire Taleo, a developer of cloud-based human resource management applications, for $1.9 billion, Oracle said Thursday.

The move comes as SAP awaits permission from a U.S. government committee to complete its $3.4 billion acquisition of SuccessFactors, a competing supplier of cloud-based human capital management applications.

Oracle will pay $46 per share for Dublin, Calif.-based Taleo, putting the acquisition price at $1.9 billion, net of Taleo's cash and debt. The companies said the deal is subject to approvals from Taleo shareholders and regulatory authorities and is expected to close by midyear.

Taleo's Software-as-a-Service applications help businesses and organizations manage employee recruiting, performance management, training and compensation. The company has 5,000 customers using its software.

Oracle said it would add the Taleo software to the applications it will offer through the Oracle Public Cloud service it unveiled at Oracle OpenWorld in October. Oracle also plans to offer through Oracle Public Cloud the RightNow customer service applications it acquired last month.

"Human capital management has become a strategic initiative for organizations," said Thomas Kurian, executive vice president, Oracle Development, in a statement. "Taleo's industry-leading talent management cloud is an important addition to the Oracle Public Cloud."

"Taleo's integrated cloud-based talent management solutions optimize how organizations hire, manage, develop and reward their employees and gives companies the intelligence needed to capitalize on their most critical asset -- their people," said Michael Gregoire, Taleo CEO, in a statement. "Joining forces with Oracle gives us the opportunity to better serve our customers."

The acquisition of Taleo could be seen as a countermove to rival SAP's pending acquisition of SuccessFactors, whose cloud-based human resource management software includes applications for workforce planning, recruiting, employee career development, compensation management, training, and employee performance management and reviews.

That acquisition is pending while the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. investigates. The committee scrutinizes acquisitions of U.S. businesses by foreign companies for any potential impact on national security.